Cutting blade for rotary mower

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a toothed cutting blade manufactured of thin sheet steel material for a rotary mower and forming at least a portion of a flat ring, its teeth each having an active cutting edge receding from the point of the tooth in respect of the radius going through the said point and an inactive edge being about square to the said radius.

United States Patent Peter J. W. Van Den Munckhof Meterikseweg 79, Horst, Netherlands 121 App]. No. 776,211

[72] Inventor [22] Filed Nov. 15, 1968 [45] Patented May 4, 1971 [32] Priority Nov. 16, 1967 [33 Netherlands [31] 6,715,578

[54] CUTTING BLADE FOR ROTARY MOWER 2 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 56/295 A0ld 55/18 56/25.4, 295

Primary Examiner-Antonio F. Guida Attorney-Imirie, Smiley, Snyder & Butrum ABSTRACT: The invention relates to a toothed cutting blade manufactured of thin sheet steel material for a rotary mower and forming at least a portion of a flat ring, its teeth each having an active cutting edge receding from the point of the tooth in respect of the radius going through the said point and an inactive edge being about square to the said radius.

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FIGQd INVENTOR PETER a. w. ww new HUNCKHOF ATTORNEYS 1-. cumnc BLADE FOR ROTARY MOWER The invention relates to a cutting blade of thin sheet steel material for a rotary mower and forming at least a portion of a flat ring and comprising circumferentially extending teeth.

In known rotary mowers having at least one rotatable driven disc the said discs are generally provided with circumferential ground teeth. During use of rotary mowers of this type the teeth become blunt and have to be reground.

In order to overcome the resulting drawbacks I have invented a rotary mower comprising at least one mowing disc wherein the disc is fitted with one or more cutting members of thin sheet steel, the cutting members each being shaped as a ring having several,circumferentially extending isosceles or equilateral teeth or as a portion of such a ring as described in my copending US. Pat. application Ser. No. 622,505 filed Mar. I3, 1967, now abandoned. The said ring-shaped cutting members having a thickness, generally from 0.2 to L mm. so as to prevent the necessity of grinding and regrinding the teeth. After being worn or damaged, e.g. by stones or similar obstacles, the cutting member may simply be replaced by new ones as the cost of manufacture is rather low.

I have now discovered that the effective life of cutting proper choice of in respect of the radius going through the said point and the' center of the ring while the inactive edge of each tooth, at least near to its point, is about square to the said radius.

Preferably the inactive edge of each tooth is described by an are through the point of said tooth, the are being concentric with the ring. In a yet preferred embodiment each tooth is unitary with a symmetrical one so as to form a common projection on the ring portion. This feature opens the possibility of simple manufacturing processes. In addition the cutting blades may be reversed after being worn so as to put the unused cutting edges into action.

In a very preferred embodiment of the invented cutting blade the cutting edge of each tooth describes an arc in the plane of the blade to allow of a yet simpler manufacturing process.

The invention will be vfurther described with reference to the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. lis a plan view of a cutting blade embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a enlarged fragmentary view illustrating one form of cutting blade comprising teeth with straight cutting edges;

FIG. 3 is an alternate form of blade-having arched cutting edges; and

FIG. 4 is still an alternate form of blade.

fastening'the blade 1 to the mowingdisc. of the rotary mower.

A fragmentary enlarged view of a cutting blade 1 is shown in FIG. 2. Its teeth each include a cutting edge 4 receding from the point of the respective tooth, seen in the direction of rotation of the blade (e.g. .in the drawing from the right to the left),

in respect of the radius 6 going through the said point and the center of the ring, indicated with the angle a in the FIGS. The

inactive edge 5 of each teeth, at least near to its point, is about square to the said radius 6. The angle [3 between the inactive edge and the cutting edge 4 of the tooth or the case being between the tangent 7 to the curved edge going through the tooth point and the cutting edge 4 of the tooth therefore is as large as possible if it approximates to the complement of the angle 0:. Cutting blades having such kind of teeth proved to have a longer life.

' In the embodiment as shown in-this FIG. each tooth is unitary with a symmetrical one so as'to form one common projection on the outer circumference of the ring portion with'the pairs united teeth are are shaped: in FIG. 4 the distance Referring now to FIG. 1 a cutting blade I is shown in plan between two adjacent teeth of different pairs is longer than that in FIG. 3.

It may be self-evident that the direction of the cutting edge in these FIGS.'is represented by the tangent to the circular cutting edge going through the point of the tooth.

It is to be understood that the form of this invention herein shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and that various modifications may be made within the scope of the present invention.

Iclaim:

I. A cutting blade for a rotary mower comprising thin flat sheet steel having a thickness from about 0.2 to 1.5 mm. and defining at least an arcuate portion of a ring, means adjacent the inner periphery of said arcuate portion for attaching said blade to a mowing disc of a rotary mower, said blade including a plurality of circumferentially extending teeth on the outer periphery thereof, each of said teeth being unitary with a symmetrical tooth so as to form a common projection on the ring portion, each of said teeth including an active cutting edge and an inactive edge meeting at a point, the active cutting edge of each tooth receding from its point, in relation to the direction of rotation of the blade, with respect to a radius passing through said point and the center of the arcuate portion, the inactive edge of each tooth adjacent the associated point being approximately perpendicular to a radius passing through said point, the inactive edge of each tooth defining an arc passing through the point of each tooth and having the same center as said arcuate portion.

2. A cutting blade as defined in claim I wherein the cutting edge of each tooth is defined by an are lying in the plane of the blade. 

1. A cutting blade for a rotary mower comprising thin flat sheet steel having a thickness from about 0.2 to 1.5 mm. and defining at least an arcuate portion of a ring, means adjacent the inner periphery of said arcuate portion for attaching said blade to a mowing disc of a rotary mower, said blade including a plurality of circumferentially extending teeth on the outer periphery thereof, each of said teeth being unitary with a symmetrical tooth so as to form a common projection on the ring portion, each of said teeth including an active cutting edge and an inactive edge meeting at a point, the active cutting edge of each tooth receding from its point, in relation to the direction of rotation of the blade, with respect to a radius passing through said point and the center of the arcuate portion, the inactive edge of each tooth adjacent the associated point being approximately perpendicular to a radius passing through said point, the inactive edge of each tooth defining an arc passing through the point of each tooth and having the same center as said arcuate portion.
 2. A cutting blade as defined in claim 1 wherein the cutting edge of each tooth is defined by an arc lying in the plane of the blade. 